Mortise-case.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK EGGE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE PERFECT SLIDING DOOR COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

MORTISE-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LFREDERICK Eeen, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairficld and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improved Mortise-Case, of which the following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to provide a mortise lock case, the parts of which may all be struck up from sheet metal and readily assembled, fastened together and taken apart, and the exposed parts of which may be free from blemish and marks of any means by which the other parts of the case are fastened thereto. The invention is applicable to various other kinds of cases and I do not propose to limit it to lock cases.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improvement in look cases especially adapted for sliding doors, affording a combined flush handle and catch for the latch.

Another object is to provide a case of maximum strength from minimum weight of material.

Another object is to provide a face plate of superior rigidity for a given weight.

In constructing this lock, the face may be made of wrought metal and finely finished without the use of any external facings.

Another object is to provide a lock case of few parts which can be made bya minimum number of dies and manipulations. This invention is applicable for cases for looks of many kinds for both sliding and swinging closures.

A further object of my invention is to provide a superior lock case for sliding closures.

A further object is to provide a mortise lock case having behind the face plate a strong, thin receptacle of requisite depth for the lock mechanism, and providing in front of such receptacle a finger and latch receiving chamber which will allow the insertion of a persons finger for the purpose of using the face plate as a flush handle for the sliding door or other closer; also to provide for holding the latch securely in the finger receiving receptacle when the door is locked.

In constructing this lock case it is usually desirable that the side members he formed as plates having their rims bent toward each other for stiffness and for forming the rim walls of the case, but it is to be understood that I do not limit the side members or plates to any specific form as the same may be formed merely as frame members to support the mechanism of the lock.

The rim walls of the case plates of the case are desirably continuous throughout to secure rigidity but it is to be understood that so far as the fastening of the parts together is concerned, it would be necessary only that portions of the rim walls be employed and a substitute for such portions of the rim wall of the face plate may be formed of rearwardly projecting catches with which the side plates may interlock.

The invention comprises two plates facing and contacting with each other, a third plate provided with an opening and arranged transversely of adjacent edges of the two plates and interlocking with both of said plates, and means at another portion of said two plates for fastening the same together.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention in a form at present deemed most desirable for sliding doors.

Figure I is a view of the completed lock case; no operative parts of the lock are shown in this view. Fig. II is a sectional detail of the case on line IIII of Fig. I. Dotted lines indicate the position of one side member in the act of detaching from the face plate. Fig. III is a detail view of the four principal parts of the lock case detached and spread apart. Fig. IV is a plan section showing the lock case with lock mechan ism in use in a door which is shown closed, latched and locked. Fig. V is a fragmentary vertical section on line VV Fig. IV. Fig. V1 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail of the interlocking face and side plates. Fig. VII is a side view of a fragment of one of the side plates, showing one of the catches.

In the form shown, the lock case comprises two plates 1 and 2, arranged facing and contacting with each other, a third plate 3 arranged transversely of the adjacent front edges 4 of the two plates 1, 2, and interlocking therewith, and means 5 for detachably fastening the said two plates together at another place, that is to say, at a place rearwardly of the place where the front edges are interlocked with the face plate. The face plate 3 is furnished with a single unitary opening a for the latch and for the finger of the person desiring to pull the sliding door from its pocket not shown. The lock case also comprises a casing 6 held against the rear of the face plate by the case plates 1, 2, each of which is provided with a recess 7 fitting the member 6 which forms a chamber or receptacle for receivinga finger to engage the flush handle 8 formed by the face plate 3, and also for receiving the latch 9 which may hook inside the face plate, engaging the same when the door 10 is closed. The rim wall b of the member 6 converges rearwardly so that said casing 6 terminates with a thickness substantially corresponding to that of the mechanism receptacle 12 mainly formed of the the face plate so that it may wedge into a shallow mortise 12 cut in the edge of the door 10. The blank thus formed with rim wall 11 around its outer edge is, in practice, used indiscriminately for forming the face plate 3 for the lock case, or the face plate 13 for the latch but the plates for the two different purposes will be differently perforated.

In the form shown, the rim wall 11 of the face plate 3 is perforated slightly above the rear face of the face plate with holes 14 thereby forming shoulders 15 with which tongue 16 projecting from the side plates 1, 2, respectively, may interlock. Said side plates 1, 2, are preferably duplicates and each furnished with a beveled portion 17 to afford space for a movement of the tongues 16 on one or the other of the side plates transversely of the face plate, sufiiciently to allow the end of one of the side plates to be admitted into and to be withdrawn from the space between the rim wall at one edge of the face plate and the other side plate when the tongues of the latter are interlocked with the rim wall at the other edge of the face plate. This will be understood by inspection of Fig. 11 of the drawings.

Desirably the tongues of the side plates are formed of projecting laterally bent portions of such plates, each terminating in a tongue 18 and having a shoulder 19 beyond which the tongue 16 projects a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the rim wall 11.

The "finger and latch chamber member 6 of the case is d csirably formed of material like that of the face plate and is readily stamped from sheet metal. The sides of the same are preferably of substantially semi-circular form and the recesses 7 in which the same fits correspond thereto and may extend from one to the other of the catch-tongues 16.

The side plates 1, 2, are desirably struck up from sheet steel or other appropriate material to form around three sides of each plate, a rim wall 20 on the other side of the plate from tongues 16, and projecting in the reverse direction to that in which said tongues project; which catches are formed of portions which project in the blank beyond the ends of the rim wall 20 and are then bent outward to form the catches. This con struction of the blank will be readily understood from the drawings which show the side walls as finished from the blank.

The face plate may be provided with holes 21 through which screws or other fasteners may be passed to fasten the face plate to the door.

The case plates 1 and 2 may be perforated alike. In the drawings, 22 designates the key hole perforation; 23 the perforations for the screw and stud which fasten the side plates together rearwardly of the face plate; 24 designates perforations for a mechanlsm-supporting pin 26. 28 is an opening above the lower edge of the opening in face plate 3 through the rear portion of the curved wall of the receptacle 6 to admit the key-operated member 30. 29 is an opening below the open ing in the face plate to admit the latch-releasing member 31, which is vertically movable therethrough. This construction allows the locking and unlocking of the latch by parts 30 and 31 projecting from the inner receptacle 8. The key-operated part 30 holds the latch 9 down into the finger-receiving receptacle when the door is locked.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the United States is:--

1. A face plate having an opening and rearwardly projecting shoulders, case members externally of said opening interlocking with said shoulders, and each furnished with a rim wall, the rim walls of said members being constructed to engage each other when the members interlock with said shoulders, and being beveled as shown and described at the ends near said shoulders to allow disengagement oi the members with the shoulders when the members are spread apart.

2. The combination of a face plate, having an opening and having shoulders on its rear face, two sheet metal members externally of said opening, each having a rim wall projecting from one side of the member around three edges thereof; and tongues projecting from the other sides at the other edge, the walls of the members being adapted to engage each other and the tongues being adapted to interlock with the shoulders of the face plate, and menus for fastening the members together.

In a mortise case, two side members, each having a rim wall projecting on one slde from three of its edges and tongues projecting on the opposite side from the other edge, said member being recessed at the edge between said tongues, a face plate provided with shoulders on its rear face for engaging with the tongues on the side members, and a receptacle in said recesses provided with openings for the lock mechanism.

4. In :1 mortise case, two side members, each having a, rim wall 011 its inner side around three of its edges and tongues on the outer side at the other edge, each member being cut away between said tongues to form semi-circu lar recesses, a face plate provided with a perforated rimwall on its rear face for engaging with said tongues, and :1 substantially semi-cylindrical receptacle in the recesses, the forward portion of which tits between the rim-wall of the face plate and the rear portion is only as wide as the thickness of the case, the side walls of the receptacle being inclined and the curved wall provided with openings for the lock mechanism.

5. In a device of the class described, a casing comprising an open end, the side walls of said casing being ouch cut away at the open end to form a recess, a face plate secured to said open end and provided within an opening, and :1 receptacle in said recess, the front of which is open and :idjacent to and opposite the opening in the face plate and the rear is provided with an opening at one end and another opening substantially midway between said ends, and the bottom of the opening in the face plate being at a point vertically between the openings in the receptacle, whereby it is adapted for use as a locking wall and for a Iingenliold.

6. In a, device of the class described, a casing, one end of which is provided with an opening, comprising a receptacle mounted in the casing proper adjacent to and comting with said opening, one wall of which is provided ith two openings, one of which is below the opening in the face plate and the other one is above the lower edge thereof, and locking mechanism within the casing proper, a portion of one member of which is movable vertically through the lower opening in the receptacle to release the latch and a portion of another member is movable longitudinally through the other opening in the receptacle for holding the latch in position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Bridgeport in the county of Fail-field and State of Connecticut: this 17th day of. June, 1904-.

FREDERICK HUGE.

Witnesses .TAMns R. 'lowNsnNn, Honnn LAUGIILIN, Jr. 

